DL Final Men’s 5000 — Aregawi’s Furious Finish

THE DL FINAL’S long race was staged as a track 5000 for the first time since 2019 and included no fewer than four past winners — Yomif Kejelcha (’15), Hagos Gebrhiwet (’16), Berihu Aregawi (’21) and Nicholas Kipkorir (’22).

Pacing was targeted for Daniel Komen’s 12:39.74 Van Damme meet record from 1997, a World Record at the time. In even-tempo terms 2:32 kilos were called for so when rabbit Thomas Vanoppen delivered 2:34.16 and 5:08.19 (2:34.03) it was clear the contenders had trying to win a heated footrace over the final laps in mind.

After 7 laps Kejelcha led fellow Ethiopians Telahun Haile (AKA Bekele), Gebrhiwet and Aregawi, soon joined by Kenyan Kipkorir, in a break to pass 3K in 7:42.07. Way back when Komen had split 7:37.22. Haile led the quintet at 4K — 10:16.53, 8 seconds down on Komen’s 10:08.53. A mad dash was coming.

With 800 left Kipkorir made his bid, short-lived as Aregawi and Haile ran ahead with 600 remaining. Aregawi led Haile, Kejelcha and Gebrhiwet at the bell. A spirited backstretch surge took Gebrhiwet to 2nd. He advanced to a step behind the leader with just under 200 left but could not close the deal as Aregawi ran away on the final straight to win by about 4 meters, 12:43.66–12:44.25 — closer, on the strength of a 2:26.8 final K, to the MR than had looked likely early on.

Aregawi’s 54.1 finish outlasted the 53.9 of Gebrhiwet, too far back at the bell and even with a 26.1 split for his penultimate 200 unable to catch up.

“The crowd was amazing, so I´m thankful for the support today. It was cold, very cold. But losing was not an option today, so very happy with the win here in Brussels.”

Sieg Lindstrom is Track & Field News‘s Editor. He fell in love with the sport as a high school distance runner, and has covered 9 editions of the Olympics and 16 outdoor World Championships. In a feverish effort to brush up his résumé before he was hired, he also attended the ’84 Olympics and ’87 Worlds as a fan.